We toured the White House to see Melania Trump’s Christmas decorations. The East Wing is gone, but the display was still dazzling.

• Melania Trump unveiled the White House Christmas decorations on Monday.

• The theme of the decorations was “Home is where the heart is”.

• The set layout was different from past years as the east wing was demolished in October.

It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

On Monday, first lady Melania Trump unveiled the 2025 White House Christmas decorations — her first holiday season in President Donald Trump’s second nonconsecutive term and the first White House Christmas decorations since the East Wing was demolished in October.

The East Entrance and East Colonnade, which featured prominently in Melania Trump’s White House Christmas decorations with dramatically lit branch displays and deep red trees, are no longer part of the route. They were demolished along with the rest of the east wing.

The White House menorah, which the Biden administration added to the White House Christmas decorations in 2022, was also absent from the display.

Melania Trump centered her White House Christmas decorations around the theme of “Home is where the heart is,” with nods to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, her Be Best initiative and military families.

I visited the White House to get an early look at this year’s holiday display. Take a look.

I entered the White House through the North Portico stairs.

In previous years, White House tours began at the East Entrance.

As we walked in, we saw Melania Trump’s Christmas wreaths with red bows in the White House windows.

Wreaths also appear on this year’s official White House Christmas card.

The East Hall presented a tribute to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The East Room decor, which included patriotic signs, was a collaboration with America250, the national organization responsible for planning events for America’s semicentennial next year.

The Christmas trees in the East Room sparkled with red, white and blue decorations.

The red, white and blue striped ribbons were accompanied by oak leaves, a traditional symbol of strength.

Golden eagles were also exhibited in the East Hall.

Christmas trees were covered in golden eagle ornaments, which also appeared on the East Room mirrors.

The Green Room displayed portraits of President Donald Trump and President George Washington made from puzzle pieces.

Each portrait contained 6,000 pieces.

Dedicated to the playful theme, the Green Room featured childhood toys in every corner.

Miniature Christmas trees from dominoes were built on a side table.

The Official White House Tree served as the centerpiece of the Blue Oval Room.

This year’s official White House tree is an 18-foot concolor tree from Sidney, Michigan.

The tree was decorated with ornaments depicting the official bird and flower of each US state and territory, as well as gold stars honoring the Gold Star families of fallen US soldiers.

The ornaments were created using AI and 3D printed.

The Red Room was filled with butterflies, a youthful nod to the first lady’s Fostering the Future program that supports children in foster care.

The decoration of the Red Room included a total of 10,000 butterflies.

His tree was decorated with Be Best ornaments and Fostering the Future ribbons.

Fostering the Future is part of Melania Trump’s Be Best initiative, focused on child well-being.

The State Dining Room featured a gingerbread White House with a miniature south portico.

The intricate White House model consists of 120 pounds of gingerbread, 100 pounds of pastry dough, over 10 pounds of chocolate, and 5 pounds of royal icing.

In the Grand Foyer, the U.S. Marine Band played holiday classics like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

I also recognized “Do you want to build a snowman?” from the Disney movie “Frozen”.

Part of the White House Nursery has been on display in the Grand Foyer, while the rest is undergoing restoration work.

The White House Nativity scene, a Nativity scene dating back to the 18th century, was first displayed at the White House in 1961 and appeared on President John F. Kennedy’s 1963 Christmas card.

The Hall of the Cross sparkled with ceiling projections and additional Christmas trees.

Stacks of red gift-wrapped boxes were stacked at the base of the trees, and scented candles filled the air with a warm, spicy aroma.

I got a close-up look at the painting of Donald Trump’s raised fist after surviving an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Painted by artist Marc Lipp, the piece hangs where President Barack Obama’s official White House portrait was displayed during the Biden administration.

In total, the White House Christmas decorations feature 51 Christmas trees, over 2,000 strings of lights and 25,000 feet of ribbon.

The White House reopens for public tours on December 2 — the first tours offered since the demolition of the East Wing. To schedule a tour, members of Congress submit tour requests on behalf of their constituents.

The display was dazzling, but I wish I could have seen the East Wing in its former glory.

Before its demolition, the East Wing was once a focal point of White House Christmas decorations and the first stop on tours. The long corridor of the East Colonnade, in particular, lent itself to captivating and sometimes divisive displays.

There’s less room to decorate at the White House until Donald Trump’s 90,000-square-foot ballroom is completed, but I still enjoyed seeing the Executive Mansion decked out for the holidays.

Read the original article on Business Insider